Installing and Executing Shared Applications in Shared Folders

ABSTRACT

Provided are a method, system, and program for installing and executing shared applications in shared folders. A program is installed by a base computer, having a local storage, to a shared folder accessible to multiple client computers over a network. Installing the program adds files for the program to the shared folder and modifies the local device used by the base computer and enables the base computer to run the program by accessing the program files in the shared folder. An image is created of the local device of the base computer including the installed program. The image is provided to the client computers to apply to local devices of the client computers. Applying the image to the local devices of the client computers enables the client computers to access the program files in the shared folder to run the program.

BACKGROUND

In certain network environments, such as Internet cafes, corporatesettings, etc., all client systems are required to be loaded with anidentical set of system programs (e.g., operating system and drivers)and software applications to provide a uniform environment for all theclient computers. System provisioning is the process of installing theidentical set of system and application programs on all the clientcomputers to implement the uniform environment. System provisioning maybe accomplished by first installing system components (e.g., theoperating system, drivers, etc.) and the necessary applications onto a“golden computer”. An image may then be taken of the golden computerstorage having the installed programs. The identical image from thegolden computer may then be loaded onto the local storage devices of theclient computers as part of the system provisioning. The copending andcommonly assigned patent application titled “Apparatus and Method ForIncremental Package Deployment, having U.S. application Ser. No.11/027,870 and filed Dec. 29, 2004, provides a technique for providingan installation of additional applications on the golden computer to theclient computers in an incremental package.

One issue in implementing a uniform computing environment is the everincreasing size of application programs, which requires that the clientcomputers provide sufficient storage space to store such large programs.Certain uniform environments, such as Internet cafes where users areprovided access to numerous large computer video game programs andorganizations that require access to many large business applicationprograms, require that each client computer includes a substantialamount of storage to store the numerous large applications. Addingsufficient storage space to each of the client computers in such auniform environment can be costly and substantially raise the cost perclient machine and the cost to service the client storage devices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a network computing environment.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of components in a memory to accesscomponents of shared applications in a shared folder.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of how the shared folder directory filestructure may map to a local directory file structure.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of operations to deploy an image of abase (golden) computer to client computers in a network.

FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of operations to deploy additionalincremental installations to a base (golden) computer to clientcomputers in a network.

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of a diagram of how incrementalinstallations to the base computer are deployed to the client computers.

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of components used to create and deploythe base image and incremental packages.

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of operations to write to files in theshared folders.

FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of how a file is divided into segments.

FIG. 10 illustrates an embodiment of operations to read files in theshared folders.

FIG. 11 illustrates an embodiment of a computer architecture that may beused with the described embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a network computing environment. Abase computer 2, also known as the golden computer, includes a processor4, such as a central processing unit, and a memory 6, such as a volatilememory device used as the system 2 main memory. The base computer 2 hasinstalled core programs 8, such as an operating system and devicedrivers, etc., and local shared application components 10 for sharedapplication programs 12 installed in a shared folder 14. Duringinitialization, the core programs 8 may be loaded from the local storage16 into the memory 6 and executed by the processor 4.

The local shared application components 10 comprise those files andconfiguration settings installed at the base computer 2 when the basecomputer 2 is used to install the shared applications 12 onto the sharedfolder 14. Local shared application components 10 installed at the basecomputer 2 may include library files, system files required whenexecuting the shared applications 12, and configuration settings, suchas registry file entries for the shared applications 12. Duringinstallation at the base computer 2 of shared applications 12 in theshared folder 14, most of the program files for the shared applications12 may be stored in the shared folder 14, requiring only a much smallerset of local shared application components 10 to be installed and storedat the base computer 2.

A shared storage 18 is accessible to the base computer 2 and otherclient computers 20 a . . . 20 n over a network 22. The shared storage18 includes folders 14 having shared applications 12 installed by thebase computer 2. The client computers 20 a . . . 20 n include aprocessor 22 a . . . 22 n, memory 24 a . . . 24 n, and local storage 26a . . . 26 n, such as a hard disk drive or other storage devices. Atsome point, a base image 28 may be formed from all the files installedon the base computer 2, including the core programs 8 and files andsettings 10. This base image 28 may be supplied to a server 30 over thenetwork 22, and then deployed by a deployment program 32 executing inthe server 30 as base images 28 a . . . 28 n to the client computers 20a . . . 20 n to install at the client computers 20 a . . . 20 n. Thedeployment program 32 may also deploy incremental packages of updates tothe base image 28 to the client computers 20 a . . . 20 n.

The base 2 and client 20 a . . . 20 n computers may be of a same type orconfiguration and deployed in an Internet café where the clientcomputers 20 a . . . 20 n are used to run computer games and otherprograms installed as shared applications 12 in the shared folder 14.The base 2 and client 20 a . . . 20 n computers may exist in othernetwork environments where similar client systems use a same set ofapplication programs, such as a corporate environment or otherorganizational setting requiring a uniform computing environment.

The base 2 and client 20 a . . . 20 n computers may comprise computingdevices known in the art, such as desktop computers, laptops, servers,hand held computing devices, telephony devices, etc. The server 30 maycomprise a server class machine. The network 22 may comprise a LocalArea Network (LAN), Intranet, the Internet, Wide Area Network (WAN),peer-to-peer network, wireless network, etc. The shared storage 18 maycomprise a suitable type of storage device or devices to store theshared applications 12 that may be accessed over the network 22, such asone or more hard disk drives (e.g. an array of disks, such as aRedundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID)), flash memory, etc. In oneembodiment, the server 30 may include a storage controller to manageaccess to the shared storage 18 or the shared storage 18 may comprisehard disk drives within the server 30.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of certain of the core programs 8loaded into the memories 6, 24 a . . . 24 n and used to manageread/write requests to shared application 12 components in the sharedfolders 14. An application 50 executing in a user mode portion of thememory 52, which may comprise the executable files for a sharedapplication 12 accessed from the shared folders 14, may issue aread/write request directed to a file in the shared folder 14. Theread/write request toward a shared file 54 in the shared folder 14 isfirst processed by a remote disk sharing driver 56 executing in a kernelmode 58. The remote disk sharing driver 56 may call a local file systemdriver 62 to execute the request against a local copy 60 of therequested shared file. If there is no local copy 60 of the requestedshared file, then the remote disk sharing driver 56 calls a network filesystem driver 64 to access the requested shared file 54 from the sharedfolder 14 to then store as a local copy 60 in a local device, such as ahard disk drive 16, 26 a . . . 26 n or a local memory 6, 24 a . . . 24n. The remote disk sharing driver 56 maintains a mapping 66 of sharedfiles to local copies 58 of the shared files maintained in the localdevice. The drivers 56, 62, and 64 may be part of the core programs 8included in the base computer images 28 a . . . 28 n deployed at theclient computers 20 a . . . 20 n.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of the mapping 66 generated and used bythe remote disk sharing driver 56 providing an association of sharedfiles 54 having a local copy 60 in the local device. Shared filedirectory 70 comprises the file directory structure of the sharedfolders 14 in the shared storage 18. The local file directory 72structure indicates the directory structure being generated by theremote disk sharing driver 56 in the local device as files are accessedfrom the shared storage 54 to provide locally as needed by executingapplications 50. Thus, the remote disk sharing driver 56 may generateboth the directory structure and files, because a file may be identifiedby its path as well as file name. The local file directory 72 is only apartial view of the shared file directory 70 if the remote disk sharingdriver 56 has not accessed all shared files in the shared folders 14.The mapping 66 provides information 74 associating a shared file 76 witha local copy of the shared file 78. Thus, the mapping may comprises anysuitable type of information, data structure, pointer, etc. indicatingan association of one shared file with a local copy of the shared file.If there is no mapping information for one shared file 78, then a localcopy 78 has not yet been created for the shared file 78.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of operations performed at the basecomputer 2 and server 30 to install base images 28 a . . . 28 n on theclient computers 20 a . . . 20 n. Upon beginning (at block 100) theprocess, an administrator installs (at block 102) an operating system,drivers and other core programs 8 on the base computer 2 that are notalready installed. After the base computer 2 has the desired baseinstallation, including core programs 8 and local shared applicationcomponents 10, the administrator may mount (at block 104) the sharedfolder 14 with writing privileges, if it has not already been mounted,and then install (at block 106) shared application 12 programs on sharedfolders 18 from the base computer 2. This installation adds programfiles to the shared folders 18, such as the executable files and otherrelated files and adds the local shared application components 10 (e.g.,library files, system files, configuration settings, etc.) to the basecomputer 16. After the programs are installed, the administrator or aprogram, such as the deployment program 32, may apply (at block 108) aread-only setting to shared folders 14. An image 28 of the local storage16 of the base computer 2 including the installed core programs 8 andlocal shared application components 10 is created (at block 110). Thebase image 28 is sent (at block 112) to the server 30, where thedeployment program 32 deploys (at block 114) the base image 28 to theclient computers 20 a . . . 20 n to load into local storage 26 a . . .26 n and use as base images 28 a . . . 28 n.

FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of operations to deploy applicationsinstalled in the shared folders 14 from the base computer 12 after theinitial installation, such as application programs added at a laterpoint as part of an upgrade. FIG. 6 illustrates the effect of theoperations of FIG. 5 in the base 2 and client 20 a . . . 20 n computers.With respect to FIG. 5, upon initiating (at block 130) operations toinstall new application in the shared folder 14 from the base computer2, an administrator disables (at block 132) client computers 20 a . . .20 n access to the shared folders 14. The administrator then installs(at block 134) one or more additional program(s) or program upgrades onthe shared folder 14 using the base computer 2. The base computer 2includes a specialized disk driver 150 (FIG. 6) to redirect writerequests during the installation to destination blocks 152 toredirection blocks 154, and indicate in the mapping table 156 thosedestination blocks 152 whose write data is stored in the redirectionblocks 154. Upon intercepting (at block 136) writes to base computerdestination blocks 152 in memory 6, the disk driver 150 creates (atblock 138) an entry in the mapping table 156 associating the destinationblocks 152 to which the write is directed to redirected blocks 154 ifthere is no preexisting entry for the target destination blocks 152. Thewrites are then applied (at block 140) to the redirected blocks 154. If(at block 142) installation has not completed, then control returns toblock 136 to process further writes. Otherwise, if installation hascompleted, then an incremental package 158 is formed (at block 144)including copies 154′ and 156′ of the redirected blocks 154 and mappingtable 156, respectively, having writes made to the base computer memory6 during the application upgrade installation. The incremental package158 is supplied to the server deployment program 32 which then deploys(at block 146) the incremental package 158 to the client computers 20 a. . . 20 n to commit (at block 148) the redirected blocks 154 a . . .154 n loaded into the client memories 24 a . . . 24 n to the destinationblocks 152 a . . . 152 n in the client memories 24 a . . . 24 n usingthe mapping tables 156 a . . . 156 n. Instances 158 a . . . 158 n ofincremental package 158 are supplied to the client computers 20 a . . .20 n, each instance 158 a . . . 158 n including redirected blocks 154 a. . . 154 n and the mapping tables 156 a . . . 156 n. At some point, thewrites from the update to the base computer 2 are then moved from thedestination blocks 152 a . . . 152 n in the memories 24 a . . . 24 n tothe non-volatile copy in local storage 26 a . . . 26 n.

With the embodiments of FIGS. 4, 5, and 6, an administrator may firstinstall application and system programs on the base (golden) 2 toperfect and test the installation. An image of the entire base (golden)computer 2 may then be provided to load onto the client computer localstorages 26 a . . . 26 n. Further, an incremental package 158 ofapplication related components added, e.g., libraries, etc., added tothe base computer 2 during an upgrade to the shared applications 12 maybe provided to the client computers 20 a . . . 20 n to load. In thisway, most of the shared application 12 components and files aremaintained in the shared folders 14, and only certain applicationcomponents 10, e.g., registry entries, system files, are added to theclient computers 20 a . . . 20 n to use to access and run the sharedapplications 12. This conserves the amount of space used by the localstorage 26 a . . . 26 n.

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of components implemented in the basecomputer 2 and or server 30 to perform the image creation and deploymentoperations of FIGS. 4, 5, and 6. The base computer 2 is provided one ormore installation programs 170 that run on the base computer 2 and areinstalled on the base computer and/or shared folders 14. Theinstallation program 170 may perform the operations at blocks 102, 104,and 106 of FIG. 4. An image program 174, which may execute on the basecomputer 2 or the server 30, creates an image of the contents of thelocal storage 16, or base image 28 (FIG. 1). The image program 174 mayperform the operation at blocks 110 and 112 in FIG. 4. A deploymentprogram 180 that runs on the server 30, or alternatively on the basecomputer 2, may deploy the base image 2 to the client computers 20 a . .. 20 n as base images 28 a . . . 28 n. An incremental package program176 may comprise the disk driver 150 (FIG. 6) to perform the operationsof FIG. 5, e.g., operations 152, 154, 156, 158, 160, 162, and 165, tocreate an incremental package 158 including redirected blocks 154′ andmapping table 156′. The incremental package deployment program 180 maydeploy the incremental package 158 to the client computers 20 a . . . 20n by performing the operations at block 166 in FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of operations performed by the remotedisk sharing driver 56 during operations the client computers 20 a . . .20 n perform to write data to the files for the shared applications 12in the shared folders 14. The remote disk sharing driver 56 intercepts(at block 200) a write request from an executing application 50 to arequested shared file in the shared folder 14. The remote disk sharingdriver 56 determines (at block 202) whether the mapping 66 provides amapping of the requested shared file 54 (FIG. 2) to a local copy 60 ofthe shared file. If so, then the remote disk sharing driver 56 writes(at block 204) the update to the local copy 60 of the shared file,updating segment(s) including the modified data. FIG. 9 shows that alocal copy of a file 230 in the memory 24 a . . . 24 n is comprised of aplurality of segments 232 a . . . 232 n and includes file metadata 234,such as the number of segments 232 a . . . 232 n, the number of emptysegments and/or segments including data. If (at block 202) there is nolocal copy 60, then the remote disk sharing driver 56 generates (atblock 206) a mapping 74 (FIG. 3) in the mapping 66 of the shared file toa local copy 60 of the shared file. Control then proceeds to block 204to write the write data to one or more segments 232 a . . . 232 n in thelocal copy of the shared file 60.

With the embodiments of FIGS. 8 and 9, the client computers 20 a . . .20 n do not after the contents of the shared folders 14 because allwrites to segments of the application 12 components and files in theshared folders 14 are stored and maintained locally. This avoids anywrite conflicts to the shared folder 14 when the clients are executingshared applications 12 from the shared folders 14.

FIG. 10 illustrates operations performed by the remote disk sharingdriver 56 during operations the client computers 20 a . . . 20 n performto read data from the files for the shared applications 12 in the sharedfolders 14. Upon intercepting (at block 250) a read request to arequested shared file in the shared folder 14, the remote disk sharingdriver 56 determines (at block 252) whether the mapping 66 includes amapping of the shared file 54 to a local copy 60 of the shared file. Ifso, then a determination is made (at block 254) whether the local copy60 of the requested shared file includes the segment(s) 232 a . . . 232n having the requested data. If (at block 254) the requested segmentsare not in a local device, e.g., storage 26 a . . . 26 n or memory 24 a. . . 24 n, then the remote disk sharing driver 56 accesses (at block256) the at least one segment 232 a . . . 232 n including the requesteddata from the requested shared file 230 in the shared folder 14 over thenetwork 22 and stores (at block 258) the accessed segment 232 a . . .232 n in the local copy 60 of the shared file. If there is already datafor the accessed segment 232 a . . . 232 n at the local device, then therequested data accessed from the shared folder may be combined with thedata already in the accessed segment 232 a . . . 232 n.

If (at block 254) the requested segments 232 a . . . 232 n are in thelocal device, then data for the read request is accessed (at block 260)from the local copy 60. From block 258 or 260, control proceeds to block262 to return the accessed data to the read request. If (at block 252)there is no mapping 74 (FIG. 3) in the mappings 66 of the requestedshared file to a local copy 60, then the remote disk sharing driver 56generates (at block 264) a mapping 74 (FIG. 3) of the requested sharedfile 54 to a local copy 60 of the requested shared file in the localdevice (e.g., memory 24 a . . . 24 n or storage 26 a . . . 26 n).Control then proceeds to block 256 to access the data locally to return.

In further embodiments, the remote disk sharing driver 56 may limit thenumber of shared files stored locally by deleting local copies 60 on aLast-in-First-Out (LIFO) or least frequently used basis.

With the operations of FIG. 10, segments of shared files 54 in theshared folder 14 are accessed over the network 22 as needed and storedlocally to return to read requests. The segments accessed from theshared folders 14 may comprise components of shared applications 12,such as executable files and files used by the executable file, e.g.,dynamic linked libraries, images, video, etc. Further, because theclient computers 20 a . . . 20 n only have read access to the sharedfolders 14 and maintain writes to components of shared application 12 ina local device (e.g., memory 24 a . . . 24 n or storage 26 a . . . 26 n)the risk of a conflicting write operation to the shared folders 14delaying a client's access of a file is substantially reduced. Further,maintaining segments of shared components locally allows for fasterlocal access to those portions of the shared applications 12 accessedfrequently. Yet further, downloading components only as needed conservesstorage space at the local storage 26 a . . . 26 n, while at the sametime providing access to many shared applications 12 whose directinstallation on the client computers 20 a . . . 20 n would requireadditional storage space at the client computers.

The described operations may be implemented as a method, apparatus orarticle of manufacture using standard programming and/or engineeringtechniques to produce software, firmware, hardware, or any combinationthereof. The described operations may be implemented as code maintainedin a “computer readable medium”, where a processor may read and executethe code from the computer readable medium. A computer readable mediummay comprise media such as magnetic storage medium (e.g., hard diskdrives, floppy disks, tape, etc.), optical storage (CD-ROMs, DVDs,optical disks, etc.), volatile and non-volatile memory devices (e.g.,EEPROMs, ROMs, PROMs, RAMs, DRAMs, SRAMs, Flash Memory, firmware,programmable logic, etc.), etc. The code implementing the describedoperations may further be implemented in hardware logic (e.g., anintegrated circuit chip, Programmable Gate Array (PGA), ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), etc.). Still further, the codeimplementing the described operations may be implemented in“transmission signals”, where transmission signals may propagate throughspace or through a transmission media, such as an optical fiber, copperwire, etc. The transmission signals in which the code or logic isencoded may further comprise a wireless signal, satellite transmission,radio waves, infrared signals, Bluetooth, etc. The transmission signalsin which the code or logic is encoded is capable of being transmitted bya transmitting station and received by a receiving station, where thecode or logic encoded in the transmission signal may be decoded andstored in hardware or a computer readable medium at the receiving andtransmitting stations or devices. An “article of manufacture” comprisescomputer readable medium, hardware logic, and/or transmission signals inwhich code may be implemented. A device in which the code implementingthe described embodiments of operations is encoded may comprise acomputer readable medium or hardware logic. Of course, those skilled inthe art will recognize that many modifications may be made to thisconfiguration without departing from the scope of the present invention,and that the article of manufacture may comprise suitable informationbearing medium known in the art.

FIG. 11 illustrates an embodiment of a computer architecture 300 thatmay be implemented at the base 2 and client 20 a . . . 20 n computers.The architecture 300 may include a processor 302 (e.g., amicroprocessor), a memory 304 (e.g., a volatile memory device), andstorage 306 (e.g., a non-volatile storage, such as magnetic disk drives,optical disk drives, a tape drive, etc.). The storage 306 may comprisean internal storage device or an attached or network accessible storage.Programs, including an operating system 308 and application programs, inthe storage 306 are loaded into the memory 304 and executed by theprocessor 302 in a manner known in the art. The architecture furtherincludes a network card 310 to enable communication with a network. Aninput device 312 is used to provide user input to the processor 302, andmay include a keyboard, mouse, pen-stylus, microphone, touch sensitivedisplay screen, or any other activation or input mechanism known in theart. An output device 314 is capable of rendering informationtransmitted from the processor 302, or other component, such as adisplay monitor, printer, storage, etc.

The terms “an embodiment”, “embodiment”, “embodiments”, “theembodiment”, “the embodiments”, “one or more embodiments”, “someembodiments”, and “one embodiment” mean “one or more (but not all)embodiments of the present invention(s)” unless expressly specifiedotherwise.

The terms “including”, “comprising”, “having” and variations thereofmean “including but not limited to”, unless expressly specifiedotherwise.

The enumerated listing of items does not imply that any or all of theitems are mutually exclusive, unless expressly specified otherwise.

The variable “n” when used to represent a variable number of an element,e.g., 20 a . . . 20 n, 232 a . . . 32 n, etc., may indicate any numberof instances of the element, and may indicate different integer numberswhen used with different elements or with the same element in differentinstances.

The terms “a”, “an” and “the” mean “one or more”, unless expresslyspecified otherwise.

Devices that are in communication with each other need not be incontinuous communication with each other, unless expressly specifiedotherwise. In addition, devices that are in communication with eachother may communicate directly or indirectly through one or moreintermediaries.

A description of an embodiment with several components in communicationwith each other does not imply that all such components are required. Onthe contrary a variety of optional components are described toillustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of the presentinvention.

Further, although process steps, method steps, algorithms or the likemay be described in a sequential order, such processes, methods andalgorithms may be configured to work in alternate orders. In otherwords, any sequence or order of steps that may be described does notnecessarily indicate a requirement that the steps be performed in thatorder. The steps of processes described herein may be performed in anyorder practical. Further, some steps may be performed simultaneously.

When a single device or article is described herein, it will be readilyapparent that more than one device/article (whether or not theycooperate) may be used in place of a single device/article. Similarly,where more than one device or article is described herein (whether ornot they cooperate), it will be readily apparent that a singledevice/article may be used in place of the more than one device orarticle or that a different number of devices may be used than themultiple number shown.

The functionality and/or the features of a device may be alternativelyembodied by one or more other devices which are not explicitly describedas having such functionality/features. Thus, other embodiments of thepresent invention need not include the device itself.

The illustrated operations of FIGS. 4, 5, 8, and 10 show certain eventsoccurring in a certain order. In alternative embodiments, certainoperations may be performed in a different order, modified or removed.Moreover, steps may be added to the above described logic and stillconform to the described embodiments. Further, operations describedherein may occur sequentially or certain operations may be processed inparallel. Yet further, operations may be performed by a singleprocessing unit or by distributed processing units.

The foregoing description of various embodiments of the invention hasbeen presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It isnot intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the preciseform disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in lightof the above teaching. It is intended that the scope of the invention belimited not by this detailed description, but rather by the claimsappended hereto. The above specification, examples and data provide acomplete description of the manufacture and use of the composition ofthe invention. Since many embodiments of the invention can be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, theinvention resides in the claims hereinafter appended.

1. A method to create an image to deploy to client computers that communicate over a network, comprising: installing a program with a base computer, having a local storage, wherein the base computer is adapted to access to a shared folder accessible to the client computers over a network, wherein installing the program adds files for the program to the shared folder and modifies the local device used by the base computer, and wherein installing the program enables the base computer to run the program by accessing the program files in the shared folder; creating an image of the local device of the base computer including the installed program; and providing the image to the client computers to apply to local devices of the client computers, wherein applying the image to the local devices of the client computers enables the client computers to access the program files in the shared folder to run the program.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein modifying the local device comprises modifying configuration settings for the base computer stored in the local device and adding files to the local device.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the program comprises a first program, further comprising: installing a second program on the base computer to the shared folder, wherein installing the second program adds files for the second program to the shared folder and modifies memory of the base computer, and wherein installing the second program enables the base computer to run the second program by accessing the program files in the shared folder; determining writes to the base computer memory during installation of the second program on the base computer; and providing the determined writes to the client computers to apply to the client computers, wherein the writes applied to the base computer memory during the installation of the second program are applied to the client computers, and wherein applying the writes to the client computers enables the client computers to access the second program files in the shared folder to run the second program.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: setting the shared folder to read-only after installing the program to the shared folder.
 5. The method 1, wherein the image includes a driver that when loaded into the client computers causes the client computers to perform: intercepting a write request to a requested shared file in the shared folder; generate a mapping of the shared file to a local copy of the shared file in a local device; and applying the write to the local copy of the shared file.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the image includes a driver that when loaded into the client computers causes the client computers to perform: intercepting a read request to a requested shared file in the shared folder; determining whether there is a mapping of the requested shared file to a local copy of the requested shared file; accessing data for the read request from the local copy of the requested shared file in response to determining that there is the mapping of the requested shared file to the local copy; and accessing data for the read request from the requested shared file in the shared folder over the network in response to determining that there is no mapping of the requested shared file to the local copy.
 7. A method for accessing shared files in a shared folder over a network, comprising: enabling access to the shared folder accessible over the network; intercepting a write directed to one of the shared files in the shared folder; generating a mapping of the shared file to a local copy of the shared file in a local device; and applying the write to the local copy of the shared file.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the write to the local copy in the local device includes only a portion of the shared file, wherein the shared file and the local copy of the shared file comprises of a plurality of segments, and wherein applying the write comprises: applying the write to update at least one of the segments of the local copy shared.
 9. The method of claim 7, further comprising: receiving a read request to a requested shared file in the shared folder; determining whether there is a mapping of the requested shared file to a local copy of the requested shared file; accessing data for the read request from the local copy of the requested shared file in response to determining that there is the mapping of the requested shared file to the local copy; and accessing data for the read request from the requested shared file in the shared folder over the network in response to determining that there is no mapping of the requested shared file to the local copy.
 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising: generating a mapping of the requested shared file to a local copy of the requested shared file in the local device in response to determining that there is no mapping of the requested shared file to the local copy; and copying the accessed data from the requested shared file to the local copy of the shared file in the local storage.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the accessed data comprises one of a plurality of segments of the requested shared file, and wherein copying the accessed data to the local copy of the requested shared file comprises copying the accessed segment to the local copy of the shared file in the local device.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the read request is for requested data in one of the segments of the requested shared file, further comprising: determining whether the local copy of the requested shared file includes the segment having the requested data in response to determining that there is the mapping of the requested shared file to the local copy; accessing data from the segment including the requested data in the requested shared file in the shared folder over the network; returning the requested data from the accessed segment; and storing the accessed segment in the local copy of the requested shared file.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein storing the accessed segment in the local copy further comprises: determining whether the local copy includes data for the accessed segment; applying the data in the local copy to the accessed segment to form a modified segment in response to determining that the local copy includes data for the accessed segment; storing the modified segment in the local copy in response to forming the modified segment; and storing the accessed segment in the local copy in response to determining that the local copy does not include data for the accessed segment.
 14. A system for creating an image to deploy to client computers that communicate over a network, comprising: a base computer, having a local storage and adapted to access a shared folder over a network, wherein a plurality of client computers are additionally adapted to access the shared folder over the network; an installation program adapted to be executed in the base computer to add files for a program to the shared folder, wherein the installation program modifies the local device used by the base computer to enable the base computer to run the program by accessing the program files in the shared folder; an image creation program adapted to create an image of the local device of the base computer including the installed program; and a deployment program adapted to communicate the image to the client computers over the network to apply to local devices of the client computers, wherein applying the image to the local devices of the client computers enables the client computers to access the program files in the shared folder to run the program.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein modifying the local device comprises modifying configuration settings for the base computer stored in the local device and adding files to the local device.
 16. The system of claim 14, wherein the installed program comprises a first program, wherein the installation program comprises a first installation program, further comprising: a second installation program adapted to install a second program on the base computer to the shared folder, wherein installing the second program adds files for the second program to the shared folder and modifies memory of the base computer, and wherein installing the second program enables the base computer to run the second program by accessing the program files in the shared folder; an incremental package program adapted to determine writes to the base computer memory during installation of the second program on the base computer; and an incremental deployment program adapted to provide the determined writes to the client computers to apply to the client computers, wherein the writes applied to the base computer memory during the installation of the second program are applied to the client computers, and wherein applying the writes to the client computers enables the client computers to access the second program files in the shared folder to run the second program.
 17. The system of claim 14, wherein the shared folder is set to read-only after installing the program to the shared folder.
 18. The system of claim 14, wherein the created image includes a driver that when loaded into the client computers is adapted to cause the client computers to perform: intercepting a write request to a requested shared file in the shared folder; generate a mapping of the shared file to a local copy of the shared file in a local device; and applying the write to the local copy of the shared file.
 19. The system of claim 14, wherein the image includes a driver that when loaded into the client computers causes the client computers to perform: intercepting a read request to a requested shared file in the shared folder; determining whether there is a mapping of the requested shared file to a local copy of the requested shared file; accessing data for the read request from the local copy of the requested shared file in response to determining that there is the mapping of the requested shared file to the local copy; and accessing data for the read request from the requested shared file in the shared folder over the network in response to determining that there is no mapping of the requested shared file to the local copy.
 20. A system for accessing shared files in a shared folder over a network, comprising: a computer adapted to communicate with a local device coupled to the computer and adapted to communicate with the shared folder over the network, wherein the shared folder includes shared files; a network file system driver executed in the computer and adapted to access the shared folder over the network; a remote disk sharing driver executed in the computer and adapted to intercept a write directed to one of the shared files in the shared folder and generate a mapping of the shared file to a local copy of the shared file in the local device; and a local file system driver executed in the computer and adapted to apply the write to the local copy of the shared file.
 21. The system of claim 19, wherein the write to the local copy in the local device includes only a portion of the shared file, wherein the shared file and the local copy of the shared file comprises of a plurality of segments, and wherein the local file system driver is adapted to apply the write by updating at least one of the segments of the local copy shared.
 22. The system of claim 20, wherein the remote disk sharing driver is further adapted to receive a read request to a requested shared file in the shared folder, determine whether there is a mapping of the requested shared file to a local copy of the requested shared file; wherein the local file system driver is further adapted to access data for the read request from the local copy of the requested shared file in response to the remote disk sharing driver determining that there is the mapping of the requested shared file to the local copy; and wherein the network file system driver is further adapted to access data for the read request from the requested shared file in the shared folder over the network in response to the remote disk sharing driver determining that there is no mapping of the requested shared file to the local copy.
 23. The system of claim 22, wherein the remote disk sharing driver is further adapted to generate a mapping of the requested shared file to a local copy of the requested shared file in the local device in response to determining that there is no mapping of the requested shared file to the local copy; and wherein the network file system driver is further adapted to copy the accessed data from the requested shared file to the local copy of the shared file in the local storage.
 24. The system of claim 23, wherein the accessed data comprises one of a plurality of segments of the requested shared file, and wherein copying the accessed data to the local copy of the requested shared file comprises copying the accessed segment to the local copy of the shared file in the local device.
 25. The system of claim 24, wherein the read request is for requested data in one of the segments of the requested shared file, wherein the remote disk sharing driver is further adapted to determine whether the local copy of the requested shared file includes the segment having the requested data in response to determining that there is the mapping of the requested shared file to the local copy; wherein the network file system driver is further adapted to access data from the segment including the requested data in the requested shared file in the shared folder over the network, return the requested data from the accessed segment, and store the accessed segment in the local copy of the requested shared file.
 26. The system of claim 25, wherein the read request is for requested data in one of the segments of the requested shared file, wherein the remote disk sharing driver is further adapted to determine whether the local copy of the requested shared file includes the segment having the requested data in response to determining that there is the mapping of the requested shared file to the local copy; and wherein the network file system driver is adapted to access data from the segment including the requested data in the requested shared file in the shared folder over the network, return the requested data from the accessed segment, and enable the storing of the accessed segment in the local copy of the requested shared file. 